that comment about 2nd tiers being respectable and 3rd tiers being toilet is a bad generalization...there are a lot of 2nd tiers that are the 4th best schools in their local legal market and 3rd tiers that are the go-to school in their region. which makes more sense to attend?

that comment about 2nd tiers being respectable and 3rd tiers being toilet is a bad generalization...there are a lot of 2nd tiers that are the 4th best schools in their local legal market and 3rd tiers that are the go-to school in their region. which makes more sense to attend?

get over the rankings beyond T14. they are made up by retarded nerds.

I agree.

For instance, South Carolina has only two law schools. One is USC, the other is an outrageously priced "public service" school that opened about three years ago. Result? A ton of people get great jobs in SC coming from USC even though it is ranked about 98th. By comparison, FSU is ranked 52nd or so, but they are in a fairly isolated part of the state, and there are at least two other comparable law schools in the state, plus if you want to move North there is UGA, etc. Basically, there is more competition for jobs even though it is ranked higher.

Also, you are going to have to realize that not very many practicing lawyers are going to memorize the rankings. If you are outside of the geographical region where you went to school, a top ten name will almost certainly be recognized, a top 20 name may be recognized. Certain law firms may look up the school rankings if there other people interviewing for the job, and if your resume isn't very appealing otherwise.

To the OP, it seems as if you have at least a decent cause of action, though I don't know what theory off the top of my head. Bad faith business practices? Possibly even fraud.

Those may be plausible causes of action. Interestingly, the attorneys I spoke with all believed that this was essentially a breach of contract, even though the student handbook states that the student handbook is NOT a contract. I'm going to play this game on their terms for the summer by taking 2 classes that I already took and passed. If I get screwed on this, someone else is going to feel my pain. Thanks for the comment.

So I was supposed to graduate a week ago. Turns out I didn't meet the requirements for graduation. You see, I go to Western State University School of Law in Fullerton CA. Not a very reputable school. It's ranked low. It's provisionally accredited with the ABA. I decided to go there because they accepted me. That is pretty much the story of the majority at WSU. Law school was difficult, but I managed to keep my head above water. I managed to stay away from academic probation. For a while I was able to see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Right before the end my second year the administration sent out a letter notifying the students that it was unhappy that some students were skimming by; never mind the fact that these student (me included) were skimming by because the school's academic standard. Western State University School of Law decided to make some changes. It added an additional requirement to graduate. Students were now required to get above a certain grade in a number of classes from that point on or they would not graduate. If a student failed to graduate, he or she can retake some classes for a semester to meet the requirement. If the student fails to meet the requirement, the student is given his walking papers. In addition, the school did away with the curve, deflating grades across the board, making it more difficult to see those grades. We pleaded with the administration. We argued that the requirements are unfair to those students who made it this far and who would otherwise be graduating. In fact, a good percentage of the students would not know if they will graduate until they received their last law school grade. Well, that is exactly what happened to me.

Here is my gripe. Following the announcement I did everything I could to increase my grades. I met with professors more often. I wrote more practice exams. I have been getting close, but not close enough. Still, Western State University School of Law was perfectly happy taking 3 years of my tuition. Western State School of Law has taken 3 years of my life. I knew when I enrolled that there was a good chance that I would not make it passed my first year. I accepted this as a reality that all law students face going in. I never expected for a law school to string me along until the very end pushing false hope, only to tell me sorry and thanks for coming. I told the dean that I wish they would have kicked my ass out a long time ago. At least then I would not have wasted my time and money. I feel like I have been screwed pretty good.

A word of advise to those who may be considering going to Western State University - DO NOT GO TO THIS SCHOOL.

Man, that sucks.

This is NOT the first time I heard this crap being pulled at western state. One of my best friends suffered like you at western state. He was a part timer who was also edging by and then after his 1st year, the school told him he was dismissed. He had not even been put on academic probation or given notice. They just collected tuition from him for a year and then when they felt he was not helping them achieve full accrediatation, they booted him.

I attend a provisional ABA approved school because they gave me a modest scholarship. They have not pulled anything like western state so far, ( just finished 1L) but this does scare me. The grading is such bs at these schools though. I still do not know how important grades are if you do not go biglaw. I hear conflicting stories that small/medium firms do not always focus on grades when deciding between candidates.

Anyhow, I agree with the other posters that you should write the ABA. Going the CBA route is an option depending on what type of law you wanted to practice. Do not let this stop you if you really want to be a lawyer. Goodluck to you brother.

"Failure will never overtake me if my determination to succeed is strong enough."

All I have to say is watch for when your school is feeling the heat from the ABA. Western State is feeling the pinch from the ABA because its provisional accreditation was ready to expire but the passage rates were not up to ABA standards to guarantee full accreditation. You will know that things will hit the fan when there are ABA visits and all of sudden bar passage becomes the number 1 concern of the school. I know we all want our provisionally accredited schools to get fully accredited. But it is wrong when the school changes rules in the 11th hour because it dropped the ball in the previous years so it could suck money out of the students that it knew could have problems with the bar. Good luck to you too man.

Good luck with retaking. I hope it works out for you.Please consider that you are in California, and are eligible to take the bar exam at this point. That being said, it's a lot better job wise if you have a J.D. along with your bar card.